10 Years Later: Revisiting The 2009 NBA Draft

This year marks the 10th
anniversary of one of the most impactful drafts in the history of the NBA. The
2009 NBA Draft gave us a pair of perennial MVP candidates and a slew of good
players.

In this article, we will revisit
all 14 lottery selections and redraft them in the positions they should have
been drafted in. As the average career length in the NBA is around five years,
we will consider a player draft-worthy if they contributed significantly for at
least five seasons.

1. Blake Griffin

In hindsight, it is easy to say
that the Clippers should have picked either Curry or Harden with the first pick
in the 2009 NBA Draft. But no one was criticizing them at the time. Griffin had
been the Consensus National Player of the Year at Oklahoma and seemed destined
to superstardom.

Griffin has not exactly been a bust. He has been an All-Star six times and an All-NBA selection five times, including last year with the Pistons. If it were not for a spade of injuries, he might have even justified the number one selection. But, in retrospect, he probably should have gone third to the Thunder.

Photo by Jonathan Bachman on Getty Images

2. Hasheem Thabeet

The Memphis Grizzlies were not the first team to be
tantalized by a big center with lots of upsides, and they certainly will not be
the last. Thabeet was a monumental bust who started only 20 games in his NBA
career. But it was understandable why Memphis drafted him second in the 2009
NBA Draft. The 7’3” 263 lb Thabeet was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year
at UConn and a Consensus Second-team All-American in 2009. He was also
developing as a scorer.

In retrospect, however, he should have never been drafted.

Photo by Michael Pina on Red94

3. James Harden

Harden was an excellent pick for
the Oklahoma City Thunder. The shooting guard was not only the NBA Most
Valuable Player in 2018, but he has also been an All-Star seven times, an
All-NBA selection six times (five as a First-team selection), and a two-time
NBA scoring champion. He has become one of the NBA’s best players.

A strong case could be made that he should have been the first pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, and in redrafting most year’s drafts, he would be. But because of a certain player drafted after him, we are having the Grizzlies draft him number 2, much like the Trail Blazers should have picked Michael Jordan with 2nd pick in the 1984 draft instead of Sam Bowie.

Photo by Tony Manfred on Business Insider

4. Tyreke Evans

Evans is one of the more difficult
players in this list to redraft. The wingman certainly has not had a bad
career. He won Rookie of the Year for Sacramento and put up good scoring
numbers for Memphis just a couple of years ago. But he has missed quite a bit
of time in recent years, and in May, the NBA banned him for at least two
seasons because of substance abuse.

So, while we might be tempted to
put him on slot number 7 with the Warriors, he probably should not have been a
lottery pick in 2009 NBA Draft or selected at all.

5. Ricky Rubio

Ricky Rubio was the first of two
point guards the Minnesota Timberwolves picked before Stephen Curry’s name
being called. He has certainly had a decent career, averaging 11.1
points-per-game and dishing out 7.7 assists-per-game. He has been good enough
that Phoenix signed him to 3-year $51 million deal over the summer. But
Minnesota, much like most teams who drafted ahead of Golden State that year,
will always have to wonder what would have happened if they had picked Curry
with this selection or the next one.

In retrospect, Rubio should have
gone 8th to the Knicks in the 2009 NBA Draft, who could have used him Mike
D’Antoni’s offense, even if that had meant the forgoing of Linsanity.

6. Jonny Flynn

While Jonny Flynn has had a
disappointing career, he will forever live on as the answer to the following
trivia question, “Who was the point guard taken right before Stephen Curry in
the 2009 NBA Draft?”

It is easy to forget that Flynn
had a good rookie season and was named for the NBA All-Rookie Team. But he was
never the same player after returning from the hip surgery he had in that
offseason and should not have been drafted.

7. Stephen Curry

Today, it is easy to laugh at
Stephen Curry being selected number 7 in the 2009 NBA Draft. But at the time,
he was an undersized guard who played at a tiny school (though one that almost
beat the eventual NCAA National Champion Jayhawks.) He has since become
arguably the best player in the game. He has won two MVP titles, had been an
NBA All-Star six times, and was named seven times to an All-NBA team. Most
importantly, he has helped the Warrior win three NBA titles.

In retrospect, the Clippers should
have drafted him with the first pick.

8. Jordan Hill

It has been said that the New York Knicks coveted Stephen
Curry with the 8th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. But when the Warriors selected
Curry, the Knicks chose Hill, who some thought might be a top-5 pick in the
draft after he put up big numbers with the University of Arizona.

However, outside a brief
resurgence with the Lakers and Pacers a few years back, he has been a bust. He
should not have been drafted.

9. DeMar DeRozan

DeRozan may forever be known as
the player who could never quite take the Toronto Raptors — the team that
drafted him — to the Promised Land and was eventually traded to the Spurs for
the man who could, Kawhi Leonard. However, this does not mean that DeRozan has
not been an excellent player. The small forward has been an NBA All-Star four
times and was twice selected to an All-NBA team including last year while
averaging nearly 20 points-per-game.

So we are redrafting him in the
2009 NBA Draft to Minnesota’s 6th pick. He has been better than both Rubio and
Flynn combined.

10. Brandon Jennings

Brandon Jennings was picked by Milwaukee in the 2009 NBA,
becoming the first American player picked in the draft who forewent college
basketball to play pro in Europe. This after being a McDonald’s All-American
MVP and the Naismith Prep Player of the Year in 2008.

He put up good numbers his rookie season on his way to being
named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, and he continued to perform well until
he ruptured his Achilles in early 2015. Unfortunately, he has never quite
recovered from this, so he did not get redrafted.

11. Terrence Williams

In high school, Williams was a
player of great promise, which led him to appear on three straight covers of
Sports Illustrated. But while he dazzled at times during his rookie season for
the New Jersey Nets after staring for Louisville and even scored a
triple-double toward the end of the season, he bounced around the league for a
few years before finding himself out of the league.

In retrospect, he should have not
been selected in the 2009 NBA Draft.

12. Gerald Henderson Jr.

Henderson, who is the son of
former Celtics guard Gerald Henderson Sr., is another promising player whose
career fizzled due to injuries. Selected by the Charlotte Bobcats after a
standout career at Duke University, the shooting guard put up good numbers for
a few seasons until both a hip injury and a torn Achilles shortened his career.

Because of this, he should not
have been drafted in the 2009 NBA Draft.

13. Tyler Hansbrough

Hansbrough had a magical career in
college at the University of North Carolina, where he was a Consensus
First-team All-American for three seasons and the Consensus National College
Player of the Year in 2008. He even had his number retired by the school. But
after being selected by the Indiana Pacers in the 2009 NBA Draft, he got hurt
even before training camp started. But while he put up promising numbers for a
few seasons earlier in his career, he could not keep up the momentum. After
bouncing around the league for a few seasons, he found himself out of it.

Consequently, he should not have
been drafted.

14. Earl Clark

Like Terrence Williams, Clark played college basketball at
Louisville. The small forward left school a year early and was selected by the
Phoenix Suns. But his career never took off, and he was sent off to the
development league. Like many others on this list, he bounced around the league
for a few seasons and briefly shined for the Lakers in 2013. But he could not
build upon this. Soon, he found himself, like many others on this list, out of
the league. He, like them, should have never been selected in the 2009 NBA
Draft.